1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tine device for a soil conditioning aeration machine for use in soil conditioning of a lawn surface to grow the lawn in a golf course or in a park.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Soil conditioning aeration machines are conventionally used in golf courses or in parks where a large area of lawn surface is provided.
In this type, a large number of vertically reciprocating tines are provided on the rear portion of a self-propelled machine body. By thrusting the tines into the ground, it is possible to form a large number of slender holes on the lawn surface in a regulated manner. It should be noted that what is referred to as a tine here is a pipe-like edged tool having a circular edge formed by thinning the forefront portion of a pipe material. The portion of the soil that is thrust by the tine may be raised onto the ground as a cylindrical core along the inner diameter of the tine. Further, the slender holes formed on the lawn surface function as the passage for causing rain water and air to permeate into the soil and may also be used in order to fertilize the lawn.
In a conventional aeration machine, the tines are generally firmly fixed one by one by means of screw to a tine driving portion of the machine body. Further, such aeration machine may also be used to properly mitigate the hardness of the turf in a race track.
Since such prior art aeration machine is constructed such that each tine is separately fixed firmly to the tine driving portion of the machine body by means of a screw, its changing takes time and the efficiency of operation as a whole is worse. Specifically, even a very small aeration machine is usually provided with the order of ten or more tines. While these tines are expendable and must be replaced with new ones after a half day or one day, the work time required for their changing cannot be ignored. In addition, since the tines are mounted on the lower portion of the machine, their changing operation is intrinsically laborious.